Some Food for Thought
by ArtFreak101
Summary: In between the wacky adventure mysteries, reality shines through.


DISCLAIMER: _Don't it own it no! Own it- no! I've got- some stuff- to write now! Don't it own it no! Own it- no! I've got- no life- to live now!_

And showing you that even in the wildest of circumstances, reality peeks though.

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Shaggy looked at the Dagwood in his hands, eating it with his eyes and checking it for imperfections. He would still eat it, but a combo of mayo and mustard could make or break a sandwich

Testily, he seemingly ate half the sandwich in one bite.

All was good.

"Hey Shagg."

Or not.

"Hey Daph."

Daphne took a seat next to him at the kitchen counter looking rather moody.

He finished off his sandwich and stood up, moving to the fridge and pulling out his second course snack. "You look like something's on your mind."

Daphne sat looking blankly at the counter with her mood seeming to increase. "Just stuff."

Shaggy nodded and pulled out a couple of plates from the cabinet. He started to pile food on them both, with one more noticeably than the other. "Wish I could sympathize." He took the two plates to the counter, sliding the smaller portion to Daphne. "Not often I find things on my mind. Most of them end up in my mouth."

She smiled gratefully and they both laughed at the bad pun. She nibbled at the food given to her while he polished his food off.

When he'd finished his second plate off, he turned to find her staring intently at him.

"Why do you eat so much?" She asked curiously. "I know a lot of people think you're a pot head and you've always got the munchies, but I hang out with you enough to know better and Velma would never allow it."

Shaggy laughed so hard he nearly went into hysterics.

Since the gang came together never had anyone actually asked him that. Everyone had pretty much accepted each others eccentricies. And then Daphne out of all of them asked the question.

Daphne had lost her curious expression and was now looking annoyed at him.

"Sorry." He said after he recovered from his laughing fit. "Sorry." he told her again. "Its just that I know of the rumors and it never stops being funny."

She smiled again.

"Believe it or not, it's a genetic disorder." he pushed his empty plate away, looking at her open expression of plain disbelief.

"You're kidding." She stated flatly.

"Nope." Shaggy raised his hand to a scout salute. "Scoobs honor. It's a genetic disorder that runs in nearly all of the male members of my father's family. Haven't you ever noticed most of my family you met are stick figures and look almost identical to me?"

Daphne looked thoughtful. "Now that you mention it, makes a lot of sense."

"Yep!" He stood up and moved to the cupboards. "Of course the munchies are a much more easy and rational explanation." He laughed.

"So what is it?" She watched him pull boxes from the cupboards and freezer.

"It gives me a ridiculously high metabolism and an overworking digestive track."

Daphne thought about that in relation to most other people. "So you mean…" She trailed off in thought.

"It means I can digest food in a quarter time it takes most people." He began to pile food on a new plate. "Did you know I can die of starvation and thirst in half the time it takes most people? If my stomach sits empty too long my stomach acid can actually eat through my stomach lining. I'm constantly eating anti-acids with my food."

Daphne winced. "Sorry." She mumbled, thinking she brought up a touchy subject.

Shaggy waved her off. "It's not your fault." He sat next to her with another plate of food and a small bowl of ice cream he slid in her direction.

"It's for that reason most of my family get jobs running or managing restaurants or something in food service."

Daphne still looked like she wanted to apologize again.

"Hey, you know all that fan mail we get?" He asked hoping to change to subject and cheer her up.

She nodded and gave him a small smile. "I know. You get the most."

"Yes." He acknowledged with no small amount of pride. "But I bet you didn't know that most of them are hate mail from super models who wish they had my problem?"

This time she laughed hard enough to almost tip her stool over. "Now I know you're kidding!"

Shaggy chuckled. "All true."

Daphne smiled. She was kind of glad now that she had never gone into modeling like her mother had suggested. "Hey Shagg, would you… promise me something?"

Shaggy smiled. "Name it. Assuming it doesn't include leaping into the jaws of a monster. Cause that's something you have to talk to the monster about."

They laughed again. Shaggy's ability to find supernatural trouble without trying was almost legendary. Second only to his cousin Xander Harris in his mother's family whom he kept distance of, if letters exchanged were of any consideration. Or his Uncle Ash William and his horror stories complete with bionic hand.

"You know how me and Fred are dating?" She asked carefully.

Shaggy gave her his best surprised look. "No kidding!" he slapped his knee for effect. "For how many years now?"

"Ha-ha." She deadpanned and rolled her eyes at his theatrics. She sighed. "When it fails between me and Fred…" She began, surprising him with her use of 'when' and not 'if.' "Will you go on a date with me.?"

Shaggy stopped smiling. "Daph, I may act it, but I'm not stupid. I'm no one's rebound. I know I'm a bit of a wuss-"

Daphne snorted.

This time it was Shaggy's turn to frown.

"It's not that." She assured him. "No one is that much of a wuss. I know you only act like that to distract the monster from the rest of us and give us time to work a trap and stop it."

Actually, he was just a wuss.

"I do like you Shaggy. There is nothing false in that. It's just that I've liked Fred and known him a lot longer than you. But Fred's first love is and always has been mystery. A girl needs an equal amount of love from a guy and I just haven't been getting it. Eventually a girl gets tired of waiting."

When she finished she was mumbling and her face had gone red. She was looking down at her hands, afraid to look up.

Shaggy frowned thoughtfully. In a rare moment, his third plate of food was still untouched. "If that happens, and we're both still single, then I promise."

Daphne looked up and smiled beautifully at him. "Thanks." She considered his conditions to the promise. "Still single huh?" She smirked. "You and Velma again?"

Shaggy laughed again. "No. We try on and off but it never lasts." He smiled despite it all.

"Why is that?" She wondered as she had before but Velma had been tight lipped about it.

"Couple reasons." He picked at his food, eating at a slower pace than anyone had ever seen him. "Because if we ever got too serious and it failed, we're worried we could break apart the gang for good."

She nodded. She sometimes worried the same about herself and Fred. "And the other?"

"Mostly…" He took a bite out of his food, swallowing an impossible amount without chewing. "She has too much of a thing for Beefcake and I have too much of a thing for Beef."

They both fell into laughs again. "But-" Shaggy continued after catching a breath. "I still date. I just date while the gang is apart for whatever reason. Long distance relationships are hard to keep after all."

They both fell into a companionable silence. Daphne fought to keep the friendly conversation going. "So where is Scooby?"

Shaggy pointed a thumb behind him to the next room over. "Living room. Watching a T.V. marathon of 'Dog Whisperer' along with 50 lbs of Scooby snacks." Go figure. After he and Scooby met the guy, he turned out of be a werewolf.

Shaggy saw that she was looking for something to talk about. He opened a box of cookies next to him and offered her one. "Some food for thought?"


End file.
